The Animal Rescue League is raising funds for a major expansion. Their current facility processes six times as many animals as when it was built 20 years ago.

The government and private-sector folks who keep an eye on these things say that crooks are finding ways to compromise legitimate websites to take advantage of ordinary computer users like you and me. Often, those crooks are using Javascript -- a powerful programming language for making websites more useful -- to conduct their crooked activities. You can avoid Javascript misdeeds by running your computer on a limited-access account. It's also a smart idea to use Firefox as your main web browser, since it tends to be attacked less often than Internet Explorer. And once you've loaded Firefox, you can use the NoScript tool to control Javascript's access to your computer.

Google is offering $20 million to whomever can launch a privately-funded spacecraft to the Moon, drive around, and send pictures back...within five years. And ten teams have already registered to participate. It's an exciting example of an inducement prize, which offers a big incentive for answering a big problem. That's why Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic -- he was trying to win $25,000. And we really ought to try those kinds of prizes in order to find answers to our energy problems.